


tonight is just fire alarms and losing you (we love a lot so we only lose a little)

by ibroughtyoumybullets



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Donnie Darko - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Depression, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Michael's POV, Minor Character Death, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 20:24:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2441870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibroughtyoumybullets/pseuds/ibroughtyoumybullets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Destruction is a form of creation. They just want to see what happens when they tear the world apart. They want to change things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, this fan fiction will be a two shot containing a prologue and then a longer second chapter, which contains moments in time shared between Michael and Luke.  
> It contains a whole lot of Donnie Darko and Chuck Palahniuk references, sorry if they don't make much sense.  
> Title credits go to Death Valley by Fall Out Boy

The shrill shriek of sirens shot through my ears and woke me from my peaceful sleep. It wasn't like I had never heard sirens before, but they had never been this _loud_.

I stumbled out of my bed and to the window on the far right side of my bedroom. I pulled a few of the blinds aside and looked around for the source of the sirens.

I saw the trucks and the ambulances. Across the street, three houses down. But what I noticed first was the house, orange and yellow and red and crumbling before everyone's eyes. It was on fire.

I ran out of the house and down the street to the ambulances and fire trucks. I didn't know the family that lived in the house but that doesn't mean that I don't care about them.

As I tried to get closer to the house, a paramedic stopped me and told me that I should move back because it's too dangerous to be close to the fire. I semi-reluctantly stepped back and stood behind an ambulance.

I heard a faint noise coming from the left side of me and I turned to see what it was.

A boy, he looked about my age, with blonde hair, ripped jeans, and a worn-out Green Day shirt was sitting on the ground. He was looking at the house, which was becoming more and more destroyed by the second, and he was laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

I cautiously walked over and sat on the ground beside him. He gave me a glance and stopped laughing.

"Did you know the people that lived in the house?" I asked quietly. He nodded.

"Well, yeah, you could say that," he said with another small giggle.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confusion lacing my voice.

"I lived there. My family and I. They all died," he said with a shrug. I looked at him with my eyes blown wide and he laughed at my expression.

"I'm so so sorry, I don't really know you but you seem nice and you don't deserve this," I said with sorrow and he just laughed again.

"Calm down, it's not that bad. I'll live. I'm house-less, family-less, and friend-less but I'm not alone," he said and continued to laugh. This guy was starting to creep me out.

"Well, who do you have, then? Who's keeping you from going insane?" I asked. I didn't know how he was holding himself together.

"I have the sky and the clouds and the grass and the ocean and the flowers and the trees and I have myself and right now I have you, and that's how I'm not alone," he said. I almost started crying because this young boy had such a positive outlook on life and when everything was wrong he could deal with it with a smile on his face and goddamnit, I just wish I could do that, too.

"You're strong. You're positive. I like that," I said, not knowing what else there is to say.

"Well, it's like, have you seen that movie Donnie Darko?" He asked and I nodded, I love that movie, "I'm glad you have, it's an outstanding film. Well, back to the point, do you remember that scene in the English class, like right before Gretchen comes in for the first time, and they're discussing that passage in that Graham Greene book?" He asks and I nod again, "Well, they talk about how destruction is a form of creation. I just can't wait to see what I create from this mess."


	2. Moments In Time

The boy and I had been talking for hours and I still don't even know his name. That didn't matter, though. Right now, all that mattered was us and the stars and the dwindling flames from the destroyed house.

"Well, I used to have friends but they all started smoking pot and drinking and I just didn't want to so they beat me up and called me a pussy and a faggot and I didn't need that in my life so I told them to fuck off," he said, and you could hear the anger dripping from his tone.

"They're assholes, and you deserve a lot better than that. They were probably just mad and confused because they didn't know how to express themselves like you can," I said. It was true. The boy had already told me about how he loved writing and reading and singing. He expressed himself in a healthy way and not many people can do that.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm still waiting to find some people that can replace the stars that I talk to at night. So far I have you, and I'm not sure if you're permanent yet, but I like you. You're a lot better than my old friends," he said and I blushed. It was weird to know that I was his best friend so far and I don't even know his name.

"Have you ever been in a relationship?" I questioned. It would be hard to comprehend if he hadn't been in one; I could only see him with the aid of moonlight and bright flashing siren lights, but he was beautiful.

"Yeah, I dated a girl once. She was beautiful and kind, but I couldn't bring myself to love her the way I was supposed to love her. I loved her like the stars when I was supposed to love her like the sun. I couldn't give her everything she needed and I didn't want her to live in a world where she would be treated like she was second best instead of number one. I didn't want her to feel unwanted so we broke it off. I wanted her to find someone who would love her like she gave them light," he said and I almost started crying again. He spoke in such a beautiful way that it could bring tears to anyone's eyes.

"You know, I don't even know your name," I stated and he let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, you never seemed like the observational type, Clifford," he said through his giggles while I just sat their, thoroughly confused.

"What? How do you know my name?" I asked with confusion lacing my voice.

"Michael, I sit literally two seats away from you in Literature and I sit one row behind you in Biology," he said and continued to laugh. I racked my brain and I decided that, yes, I remember the quiet blonde boy in two of my classes that had pretty eyes but didn't speak a word.

"Luke. Luke Hemmings. I remember you. You never talk during class but I remember thinking that you had pretty eyes on the first day of school when we made eye contact for a millisecond," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, that would be me," Luke said and laughed again.

"So, Luke, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" I asked and his face fell a little bit.

"I was just going to sleep on a park bench and hope that I wouldn't get murdered," he said with a shrug.

"Well, not anymore. You're staying at my house," I said and he smiled like a kid on Christmas. It was cute.

"Are you sure? But would your parents mind?" He asked and his face was starting to fall again.

"They'll be fine with it, now come on, let's head home," I said before we both stood up. I grabbed his hand before dragging him back to my house.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"I can leave, you know."

"Are you insane? I'm not going to let you leave, Luke. You don't have anywhere to go and I like having you here. Don't even try to tell me that you're a burden because you're not," I said to Luke while looking at him incredulously. If he thinks the I'm going to let him leave on his own, then he should think again.

"I just don't want to annoy you or your family," he said while scratching the back of his neck and looking down. I disagreed with him wholeheartedly and I knew I had to knock some sense into him, but I couldn't help but to think that he looked really adorable.

"Luke, you're not annoying in the slightest, don't worry about it," I assured him and he gave me a small smile, "So, we have school tomorrow. Are you feeling up to going?"

"Yeah, I like school. I'm good at writing and reading and I like doing what I'm good at," he said with a smile and I smile back. He was cute.

"Do you mind if I introduce you to my friend Calum?" I asked. I wanted him to be friends with my friends so we could all hang out together and he could be happier.

"Sure, as long as Calum isn't an asshat," he said and I giggled.

"Well, Calum's a bit of an asshat, but in a good way," I said and this time Luke was laughing with me. He had a cute laugh that was a bit too high pitched for his look or for the sound of his voice but it worked for him. It was adorable.

"Do you think the other people will be talking about me? Like about what happened?" Luke asked, and he looked so small right then, smaller than he had ever looked before. He was usually confident around me, strong and tall and ready to face anything, but right now he looked so small.

"Lukey, they're going to be talking about it, spreading rumors, maybe looking at you in the halls, because they're all dumbass teenagers that don't know how to keep their mouths shut, but if anyone gives you any shit about this, I swear to god I will fucking beat their ass," I said with a hint of rage as I thought about those asshole kids making fun of Luke because he has no house and no family. Luke gave me a small smile and then pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him protectively and he buried his face into my chest.

At that moment, everything was right in the world. Nothing could hurt me, nothing could hurt us. I could feel his heartbeat and he could feel mine, and I couldn't help but think about how truly  _alive_  I was. I wasn't alive because I could breathe, because blood was pumping through my veins; I was alive because I could feel, and I hadn't felt anything better than this in a long, long time.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Luke, why haven't you cried?"

"I made a promise," he whispered before looking down slightly again. We were lying in my bed and the clock read 2:53am. We had to get up for school in four hours but none of that mattered, because when we were with each other time didn't have to exist; when we spoke, time wasn't counted in minutes and seconds, but it was counted in words and smiles and the soft glimmering of eyes that held happiness.

"What was your promise, Lukey?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want him to get too sad over this.

"Well, it'll take a while to explain," he said while looking at his hands, which were moving awkwardly between each other.

"I'm all ears. You can tell me anything," I whispered and he gave me one of his heartbreakingly sad smiles.

"Well, it started back in third grade. I was walking home from the park where I had hung out with my friends, and a man grabbed me and dragged me back to his car. I don't remember what it looked like because he put a blindfold over my eyes," he said and I gasped. This was already horrible, "He took me back to this place, I don't remember it well, but it was very dark and it smelled disgusting, like mold mixed with vomit and sweat. He had this knife and he would drag it up and down my arms," he stopped for a second to lift up his arms to show the scars that were now faint, but still present, "Whenever I screamed or cried he would slap me and tell me to shut up, so I did, because I didn't want him to hurt me more, but he did. He hurt me again. But it was worse this time. H-he raped me," Luke stammered as he was close to tears. I just wanted to hold him and never let him go, "After he... finished I passed out from the pain, but he must've thought I was dead, because when I woke up I was in a forest. I was in too much pain to move, so I just lied there until a woman walking her dog found me and brought me to the hospital," he said and at this point I had tears streaming down my face, but he still refused to let his tears fall.

"Oh, Lukey. You deserve so much better than that. I'll make sure no one ever hurts you again," I say as I wrap him into a protective hug.

"Well, I'm not done. Once I got back to my family and told them what happened, they put me in therapy, but it didn't work. I was still just as sad, and I still felt just as unclean. My scars that trailed up my arms made me feel ugly and unlovable. As I grew up, I could never make friends because I thought they would think I'm ugly. I wouldn't go outside because I thought someone was going to take me again. By the time I was in 6th grade, I had no friends, and I locked myself in my room everyday after I got home from school, which was the only time when I went outside. My parents got more and more concerned, so they began to check on me once every hour. I felt like my privacy was being invaded, and I wanted to get away, but I had no where to go. I felt so frustrated that I would always scream and cry and I didn't know how to deal with myself," he said and he was starting to say every word with anger gripping every sentence but he never let his tears fall, "In 7th grade I found a lighter in a cabinet in my house and something about it fascinated me. I would watch the flame flicker and it looked so pretty. I started to wish that I was fire. I wanted to look pretty but also be intimidating and that's what fire was. I started burning my hands, as if having burns would make me feel like fire. It hurt, but the pain was sort of satisfactory to me in a horribly messed up way. I became addicted to the feeling of flame on my fingertips, and I couldn't stop. Eventually, my family found out about it and sent me to therapy again. The therapy didn't help the second time, either," he said and I just held him tighter. I couldn't imagine Luke hurting himself. I didn't want to imagine Luke hurting himself. He was too beautiful, too kind, too wonderful, "I was a freshman when I swallowed a whole bottle of pills. My older brother found me, lying limp on the tiled floor of our bathroom, and he got me to the hospital in time to save my life. I was in a coma for three weeks, and when I woke up, I had a long conversation with my mom. We didn't talk about anything in particular, just about everything that came to mind. When visiting hours were almost over, she pulled her chair up close to my uncomfortable hospital bed and she said, 'Luke, promise me that you'll never be sad again,' and I told her that I promised, and that I would always be happy from then on. She might be gone now, but last time I checked, words don't exactly die. I'm going to keep my promise for as long as I live. I haven't cried since that day and I'm not planning on crying any time soon. I have to be happy, for my mom, and for me. I want to be happy."

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Calum, this is Luke."

"Hey, Luke. I'm Calum, as you know. You're in my music class, right? You play guitar and sing," he said with a slight nod at the end.

"Yeah, that would be me," Luke said with a shy smile.

"What? You never told me that you played guitar," I said while staring at Luke incredulously. He blushed and started fiddling with his hands.

"Well, I don't like playing for people," he said with another one of his adorable shy smiles.

"But I'm not any ordinary person, I'm Michael! I'm better than the rest," I said with a slight sarcastic tone and Luke giggled, which made me smile proudly. I loved making him laugh.

"Michael, we've only spoken to each other for three days," he said and I frowned dramatically and he giggled again.

"Well, that doesn't mean that I'm less amazing than I am," I said and he giggled again. It was becoming too much. He was too cute.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'll play for you after school today, but only if you play for me," he said with a little smirk that made my heart flutter. I was completely fine with that, but I decided to continue my arrogant act, so I let out an annoyed sigh.

"Fine, fine. If that's what it takes," I said and he fucking giggled again. I was so done with his adorableness. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Calum looking at us with a smirk playing on his lips.

"What are you looking at, Hood?" I asked and turned to him. His smirk just grew bigger and Luke giggled _again_. I couldn't handle this boy. He was too much.

"Nothing, just admiring the new high school sweethearts," he said with that smirk still planted on his face and Luke and I blushed simultaneously.

"Shut up, Hood," I said before grabbing Luke's hand and dragging him to literature class.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Bite my lip and close my eyes, take me away to paradise..."

Yesterday, Luke had played guitar for me. He played Adam's Song by Blink-182 and it was so beautiful and I _totally_  didn't cry.

He told me he could sing.

On the contrary, he didn't tell me that he had the voice of a fucking angel sent from Heaven itself that was then dipped in a little bit of Hell because it sounded both sweet and sexy at the same time.

I heard the water stop in the shower and waited patiently for Luke to get back to our room. I wanted to confront him about his singing talent that he was too shy to go into detail on.

A couple minutes later, he walked into the room with only a towel around his waist. There were still a few water droplets dripping down his chest and he looked so hot that I almost forgot about the singing, but as soon as I got out of this little trance that I was in I asked him about it.

"Hey, Luke, you never told me that you could sing," I said and he gave me another shy smile.

"I told you about it, liar," he said with a giggle, a slight blush decorating his cheeks.

"Well, you didn't tell me how good you are. You should start showing it off to more people," I said and I saw Luke's blush grow out of the corner of my eye.

"Thank you," he said quietly and that was the end of that.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"They were amazing people, and I couldn't have asked for a better family. They were loving and they supported me throughout my whole life; through all the troubles that I faced. Of course, not everything they did succeeded in helping me through my battles, but the fact that they tried to help is enough for me. I love them with all of my heart and I will forever, but I will carry on. I'll find someone to fill the spaces in my heart that came to be when they passed, if I haven't found that person already. I will always love and miss them dearly, but one day, my heart will be whole again." Luke was making his speech at his family's funeral. I had started crying a long time ago, but he still held himself together. I was amazed at his strength and his will to face every day with positivity, despite his horrendous past.

Luke walked back to where we were seated together and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I knew that I should be the one comforting him, but he would probably just shake his head at me if I tried, so I just leaned into his embrace and clutched my arm around his waist.

When we got home, we didn't speak. We didn't do anything. Luke just dragged me up to our room and lied down on the bed, motioning for me to come join him. I sat down and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. We sat there for hours, just holding each other. No words had to be said. The soft thump of our heartbeats in time with each other's was worth more than any word ever spoken. Right then, I was content enough to feel alive without even doing anything. Luke made me feel alive.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Luke, do you believe in God?"

He was silent for a few minutes, opening and closing his mouth as if he was disagreeing with himself, but he didn't make a sound.

"I'm not sure. I can't prove his existence but I can't disprove it either," he said finally and I nodded.

"Agnostic, I see," I said and he shrugged.

"I wish I could make my own religion," Luke said and I smiled. He had this thinking face on and it was adorable.

"What would your religion be?" I asked and he gave me a small smile.

"Well, over the years I've started to realize that I am the most important person in my life. I make my own decisions and I think my own thoughts, you know? And everyone in any religion puts a 'higher power' above themselves, like it's more important than them. I disagree with that. I don't think we should put anything above ourselves, especially if it's something that we can't reach. We have to be the most important thing in our own lives. I wish there was a religion that spoke of how you are your own God. You control your life and nothing in your life is more powerful or more important than you," he said thoughtfully. It amazed me how everything he said sounded so beautiful. I'm starting to think that he's not actually Luke Hemmings, he's Luke Hemingway.

"I like that idea. It would make everyone more confident. But I have another question," I said and Luke looked up at me, waiting for me to ask the question,"Do you believe in fate?"

"Being agnostic, I guess I shouldn't, but something is willing me to believe in it. Like, without fate, my house wouldn't have burned down, and I would have never spoken to you, and you're the best friend I've ever had," he said and I swore I blushed so hard that I was actually a cherry.

"Sometimes I wish we met on a better day, a happier day, but that would've changed everything. That couple hours was so heartbreaking that it was almost heart-mending. Like, I thought about how tragic it was that your family died, but how amazing it was that you didn't. There was something so oddly peaceful about watching a house turn into fiery ashes," I said and Luke nodded.

"I think it's my turn to ask you a question," Luke said and I smiled, "Do you believe in soulmates?"

"Yeah. I'd like to believe that there's someone out there that will love me unconditionally," I said.

And I swore I heard Luke whisper something under his breath, but I also swore that he wasn't so close to me just a minute ago.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"So, are you going to ask Luke to go to prom with you?"

"Are you crazy?" I asked while looking at Calum like he killed a man.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that you guys like each other," Calum said with a shrug.

"No, no. Luke doesn't like me. He's way out of my league. He's like a delicate flower and I'm just a pine needle on an evergreen. He deserves better than me," I said while shooting a mild glare at Calum who just gave me a smirk.

"Whatever you say, Mikes, but I'm telling you, you guys are in love," Calum said and my glare intensified.

"Michael Clifford does not _love_  people. He strongly likes people. He does not love," I said with a grimace. Calum gave a worried look and motioned for me to look behind me where I saw a sad looking Luke beginning to walk away.

"It's a shame you don't love, Michael. Love can be such a gorgeous thing. Maybe one day you'll find your sun, that shines brighter than the other stars," Luke said before turning the corner and disappearing from my sight.

"I fucked up," I said with a sigh and Calum nodded.

"Yeah, you did. But he lives with you, so at least you'll have time to make it up to him," Calum said before patting my back and turning in the other direction, leaving me alone in the hallway.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Why don't you love, Michael?"

"It just seems like too much of a hassle for something that could end up being so emotionally scarring. It's just pointless. To me it's like preparing for one of those stupid hoax apocalypse things. You try so hard and you work so much to prevent yourself from the inevitable, then all your hard work just blows up in your face because it didn't happen the way it was supposed to happen. It's too hard to love someone. Like spending days on end writing a paper, then turning it in with high hopes, and getting a D. It's just too much work and too much pain," I said with a sigh. Luke gave me a solemn nod and then continued to stare at the stars.

"But, what's the point of life if there is no love?" Luke asks after minutes of silence.

"Well, what's the point of life or love when everyone dies alone?" I replied.

"How do you know everyone dies alone?" He asks, quieter than before.

"Well, no matter how much you trust someone, and no matter how much you think they love you and how much they think they love you, they're always going to step back when the pool or your blood edges up too close to their feet," I said. It was true; we all care about ourselves more than others. It's human nature. I don't have room in my heart to care for someone else.

"I don't want to die alone," Luke said, his voice breaking when he utters that last word.

"Neither do I," I said. It was true. Everyone's scared of the inevitable, aren't they?

"Then why won't you love?" He questions in a whisper.

"My heart can be filled with about ten ounces of blood at once and nothing more. I can't hold the weight of another person's life. I'm not strong enough," I said as I felt tears wet my eyes.

"You've carried me this far, Michael. You're strong enough," Luke said and gripped my hand.

"I'm just so afraid that one day I'm going to drop you. I don't want to let you fall back into the place where you were before," I said, tears falling freely now.

"You won't have to carry me forever. One day, I'll just walk beside you, holding your hand. One day, we'll be strong and we'll be happy."

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"What do you think death is like, Luke?"

"If this is a way of telling me that you're going to kill yourself, I'm going to check you in to a hospital right now," Luke said with no joking manner in his voice.

"No, no, nothing like that. I just wonder what death will be like," I said, trying to reassure him that I was fine. I wouldn't leave him, anyway.

"I think death is like life, in the way that you're always either falling or flying, but more literally. I think it's like purgatory, like when you're in a bad mood, you fall towards Hell, and when you're in a good mood, you fly towards Heaven, but since most people's moods change quite often, everyone's just kind of stuck floating in this void and waiting for something to happen," he sad with a shrug and turned back to his history homework.

"This may sound idiotic, but I've always had this thought that death is like going to a diner. You look at the menu and find everything you wanted but never had in life. There would be some things on there like 'A Spouse' or 'A Loving Mother', and there would be things like 'Happiness' and 'Love'. You would get to order everything you never had in life, and then they ring you up, and the cost of whatever you wanted in life is the deciding factor of whether you go to Heaven or not. It's kind of stupid, but it's this idea I've been infatuated with for a while," I said. Luke was staring at me in a captivated manner before he opened his mouth to speak once again.

"What would you order?" He asked.

"I would order the ability to love," I said. He was giving me a weird look that I couldn't decipher. It felt like it was caring, but also confused, along with many other emotions that I can't exactly pick out.

"I think you have that already. It's just going to be harder to discover than you want it to be," he said.

"I hope so," I sighed.

"Maybe I can help you out," he said with a grin.

And then he was kissing me.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Where do you get your inspiration?"

I had been reading Luke's poetry for about an hour now and I've just been falling in love with his mind even more. His poems hold such strong emotions; ones that are sometimes too strong and confusing to decipher.

"I get my inspiration from what I call, 'The Big Three'. Fear, pain, and love. It's all I've ever really known in my life, anyway," Luke says with a shrug. His hair is falling over his face and he's wearing one of my sweaters. He's holding a mug of coffee and he just looks so comfortable and at peace. It's adorable.

"I really like this one," I said, pointing at one of the crumpled pages of his journal.

"Which one? Read it to me," he spoke.

_"This world is too loud,_

_And we're too bitter._

_But if I close my mouth,_

_They'll call me a quitter._

_Big Brother is singing and dancing._

_Some soap opera on the television;_

_Stereo playing a nonsensical song._

_When did this become the world we live in?_

_Since when has silence seemed so wrong?_

_Big Brother is singing and dancing_ ," I read. This poem made me think about how I lived my life. I always distracted myself with music and now it seems to me that sometimes I forget to pay attention to the world around me.

"Oh, that one is one of my favorites, too," Luke said with a nod.

"Which one of The Big Three inspired this one?" I asked.

"I'd have to say love. It's a poem I based off of one of my favorite books. Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk. He's an astounding author," Luke said. Anyone could tell that he was very passionate about the book. He had this warm smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes. Maybe I should check out this Palahniuk guy.

"You have a beautiful mind, Luke," I whispered. His cheeks turned a soft rose color.

This is what love is like.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Michael, why do you let me stay here?"

"Well, you're so important to me. I can't let you go live on the streets because you could get hurt, and I can't let you live with someone else because you could _still_ possibly get hurt. I just want to make sure that you never get hurt," I said with a sigh.

"That's very sweet of you, Mikey," Luke said with a soft smile.

"It's not like keeping you here is a hassle, anyway. My parents love you and you're one of my best friends, so the whole arrangement is pretty spectacular. Plus, you're an amazing cuddle buddy," I said with a grin. Luke blushed and started to giggle into his hand. He was so adorable.

"Well, you're not too bad yourself, Clifford," he replied with a smirk.

"What do you mean, 'not too bad'? I'm the best cuddler to have ever graced the Sydney area," I said with faux arrogance. Luke continued to giggle and I wanted to shoot myself in the foot. He was too cute.

"Yeah, yeah. You're okay," Luke said, trying to act nonchalant, but anyone could tell that he was lying about my cuddles being just adequate.

"Stop degrading my cuddling skills, Luke. I may have to take your cuddling privileges away from you," I laughed, putting on my best angry mother voice.

"No, anything but that!" Luke exclaimed with over-exaggerated desperateness. He was pouting with extraordinary ferocity and his baby blue eyes were staring deeply into my own. He looked like a kicked puppy, and I just couldn't help myself from planting a kiss on his puckered lips.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"You know, the walls in your house are very thin."

"Um, what do you mean by that, Lukey?" I asked. He was smirking at me, and I knew that this couldn't be good.

"I'm just saying that I can hear quite a few things from all over the house while just in your room," he said. The smirk wasn't going away, it was only growing in intensity, which was slightly terrifying.

"Yes, I'm aware of that. What did you hear?" I asked. I was getting nervous. Did he hear my terrible rendition of That Girl by All Time Low while I was washing the dishes?

"Well, remember that one time you heard me singing Longview in the shower?" Luke asked. Oh, so he heard my terrible rendition of The Take Over, The Break's Over by Fall Out Boy while I was in the shower.

"Yeah, I remember," I said. I decided that I didn't really care that he heard my terrible singing. It was just a step towards growing closer.

"Well, I heard something rather interesting today," he said. The smirk was still thriving on his lips, and even though I knew I didn't have to worry about anything, it was still intimidating me.

"Yeah? What did you hear?" I asked curiously. Do my mirror-shattering vocals of pop punk songs from the mid-2000s really interest him that much?

"I heard you jacking off."

I felt the color drain from my face. Shit. I forgot about that. Fuck. Oh my god.

"O-oh. Sorry," I said. I was flustered. Luke was practically glowing with arrogance.

"Oh, don't be sorry. It was quite wonderful to hear you moaning my name," he said and bit his stupid smirking lips. I swear to god I hate this son of a bitch.

"Um, please just disregard that I ever did that," I said, adjusting the collar of my shirt, which seemed to me suffocating me more and more by the minute.

"I'd rather not."

His lips were on mine within milliseconds.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Care to explain yourselves, guys?"

Luke and I had been making out on my bed for about ten minutes. It had been about two weeks since the "Thin Walls" incident and we haven't been able to keep our mouths separated, but no one has caught on that we're a little bit more than friends now. I guess we were just so caught up in kissing each other that we didn't notice the door opening.

"Oh, hi Calum," Luke said before turning back to kiss me again. I broke the kiss quickly because I erupted in a fit of giggles. It was so cute that Luke just didn't care that Calum had just walked in on us making out.

"So, did you guys finally get your shit together?" Calum asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*

"Do you believe in love now, Michael?"

"I don't believe in love in general, but I believe in you, and you are my love," I said to Luke, who was smiling brightly at me. He was wearing a tuxedo with blue accents; the blue of his eyes. He looked beautiful. So, so beautiful.

"We've been through so much," Luke said, staring down at our feet. We were wearing uncomfortable dress shoes, but we were as comfortable as we could be.

"I know, babe. I never imagined that the way I would meet my one and only was from blinding ambulance lights and the sound of firetruck sirens, but that day shaped us so much. I don't think this day would be happening if that day never occurred," I said. It was sometimes hard to reminisce on that day, because it was such a bittersweet moment. Luke lost his family, but gained something else. Someone else.

"I love you, Michael," Luke said and stared into my eyes.

"I love you, too, Luke," I said and brushed my hand over the silver band on his ring finger.

"On the day of my family's funeral, almost five years ago, I said that I would find someone to fill the spaces in my heart that they left when they passed, but even then, I knew I had already found that person. I always knew it was you," Luke said, holding so much passion and love in his voice.

And then, for the first time in eight years, a tear slips past Luke's eye, trails down his cheek, and falls to the ground.

And for the first time in his life, it was a tear of joy.


End file.
